Taxi Fare Increase is now official :(

[boulderjohn]

Cozumel seems to have at least double to triple the number of taxis it really needs, no wonder they need more fares.

Last week after I was done with a dive I met up with my wife and the friends who had joined us for our trip. We were at a place not too far from where we were staying in Akumal, and my wife and friends took a taxi to get there. The plan was for them to snorkel and relax (while I nearly nodded off after a day of diving), eat some dinner, and then take a taxi back to Akumal. The taxi driver who brought my wife and friends said he would stay and take us back. We told him it would be hours (at least) before we were ready to return. He insisted. He sat around the entire time we were there, and when we were done with dinner, he took us back to Akumal. We realized it was a very smart move on his part. By waiting for us, he was guaranteed a fare. If he went somewhere else, he very well might not get a single fare the rest of the day. We talked with him on the way back and realized that he had taken a fare from Cancun to Akumal that morning and then sat in Akumal for many hours dong nothing until our group used him. By waiting for us, he managed to get in one more fare before returning home to Cancun. Those three fares probably constituted a very good day for him.

 

[Christi]

Taxi rates - did they raise all the rates. even the local rates too? This has got to be financially harder on the locals than the tourists. If the rates are too aggressive the tourists will find alternatives to taxis and the money will move around to cheap car rentals, but for locals this seems a bigger hardship.

Contrary to popular belief among visitors, there are no "local" taxi fares - the fares are the same for everyone. That is why the collectivos exist for lower priced public transportation options. The Collectivos ARE the local fares - but taxi fares are the same.

AS far as golf carts, the island is much busier, larger and more populated than Isla - can you imagine how many dead batteries and stranded people there would be on the other side of the island? And how many traffic jams there would be if we had a bunch of tourists driving around in golf carts?

 

[jpomerantz]

Contrary to popular belief among visitors, there are no "local" taxi fares - the fares are the same for everyone. That is why the collectivos exist for lower priced public transportation options. The Collectivos ARE the local fares - but taxi fares are the same.

AS far as golf carts, the island is much busier, larger and more populated than Isla - can you imagine how many dead batteries and stranded people there would be on the other side of the island? And how many traffic jams there would be if we had a bunch of tourists driving around in golf carts?

I think people think rates are lower for "locals" because the rates are the highest to and from the hotel zone.

 

[Mike]

Contrary to popular belief among visitors, there are no "local" taxi fares - the fares are the same for everyone. That is why the collectivos exist for lower priced public transportation options. The Collectivos ARE the local fares - but taxi fares are the same.

AS far as golf carts, the island is much busier, larger and more populated than Isla - can you imagine how many dead batteries and stranded people there would be on the other side of the island? And how many traffic jams there would be if we had a bunch of tourists driving around in golf carts?

That's weird, there are multiple threads on other forums about cozumel where locals talk about the local taxi rates that are different than the tourist rates, there are threads where expats routinely post about having to tell taxi drivers they are local because the taxi drivers see them as tourists because they are white and charge them the tourist rates, there are multiple people posting their experiences in regard to the dual rate system on Cozumel.

 

[Ron Lee]

I read most of the same Mike...plus I know that the ferry is a lot higher for tourists than Mexicans.

 

[Sideways]

I used to live in southern Baja, Loreto, in the early 90's. If you went to the ferry in Santa Rosalia right there on the fare board at the ticket window it listed prices for tourists, and prices for locals.

 

[DandyDon]

I used to live in southern Baja, Loreto, in the early 90's. If you went to the ferry in Santa Rosalia right there on the fare board at the ticket window it listed prices for tourists, and prices for locals.

Yes, the discount ferry rate for locals is official for the Coz ferries too. The taxi rates for locals may not be officially lower, but the drives can charge less if they want to.

 

[Christi]

The ferry is a totally different thing. There are discounted rates for island residents - not specifically "Mexican citizens" - but you must have the plan local card regardless of your citizenship in order to get the fery discount. Getting the plan local card requires an FM2 or FM3, MX passport or IFE, proof of legal residence on the island. Evewn Mexicans that live elsewhere are not eligible for this rate and pay full fare. They offer this for island residents because we are "trapped" on the island and so many things require us to travel to the mainland on occasion, some people even commute to work over there daily.

Let me guess Mike, CMC??? Some expats always feel the need to make sure people know they live here and are not tourists. They assume they wll be ripped off, and maybe they have been - but I am telling you that the cab fares are one price for everyone. There are different zones that are less which are back in different neighborhoods. Of ocurse I am not surprised if there are some taxi drivers out there who will try to charge tourists more because he think he can get away with it, and maybe that is why some of the expats feel like they need to state that they are local to the drivers, but it is not because there are published "local rates"

I actually verified this a little bit ago with a really good friend of mine that is a taxi driver here, just to make sure. He owns 3 cabs and has been a taxi driver for 16 years here - also drives one of the red supervisor cars - so my source is good - it's not just based on assumptions and perception.

 

[DandyDon]

I think people think rates are lower for "locals" because the rates are the highest to and from the hotel zone.

Yep, that too.

 

[ccannon707]

Are the taxi rules in Cozumel the same as in Akumal?

I learned while I was there that if a dive operator picks up a customer and takes him or her to a dive site (like a cave), it is a crime, and the dive operator's vehicle can be confiscated. Only taxis are allowed to do that kind of transportation. I was also told that dive operators are allowed to take customers from the shop to the dive site, but that is technically illegal and can only be accomplished by paying an annual "fee" (ahem) to the local police.

I have run into something like that going with ops that leave from the Caleta. 2 different 1 man shops I go with pick me up in town when they can. I kind of duck down when we get to the Caleta. Then when it's time to go, we sneak around to meet up at the car. No threats of confiscation but clearly there is a negative vibe from the taxi drivers that is being avoided by all this. Illegal or being bullies?